Ticket-case



LJ. CARR.

TICKET CASE.

APPUCATION mu SEPT. e. 29'?.

Patenta& Apr. 5, 1921.

UNITED STATES JOHN J. CARE, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

TICKET-CASE.

Application filed September 6, 1917.

T 0 all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. CARR, a citizen oi' the United States, andresident of Yonkers, in the County of lVestchester and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ticket-Cases, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in ticket cases and to aparticular form of ticket adapted for use therein, with the object inview of providing such a device that is arranged to prevent ticketagents from indulging in that form of embezzlement which is commonlyreferred to as Selling back in stock tickets.

Another object is to provide such a devioe which is relatively simpleand cheap in construction, and in which the novel parts may beencompassed in cases substantally similar to those now in use for thedispensing of railroad tickets.

A further object consists in providing such an arrangement in which themechanical parts coperate with a particular form of ticket to efi'ectthe desired result.

A. still further object consists in providing certain improvements inthe form, Construction and arrangement of the several parts whereby theabove-named and other advanta es may be eiectively attained.

ailroad card tickets are usually sold separately and they are generallyheld in the case in a series of tubes which have the front end open andexposed. The ticket-s are serially numbered and it is the custom to havethe tubes hold about two hundred and fifty tickets each. As a ticket issold, the agent withdraws it from the open end of the tube, and thewhole stack of tickets in the tube moves forward (generally under theinfluence of a ball or marble actuated by gravity) so as to bring theticket hearing the next number to the very front of the tube. Thisoperation is continued until the supply of tickets in any given tube isexhausted.

When the accounts of an agent are made up, either at the end of aworking period, or when the agent is relieved by another, or at the timeof closing the ticket oflice, or when the agent is leaving his position,or when a traveling auditor is making an inspection, or at any othertime, it is customary to examine the numbers on the tickets apearng atthe front of each tube, and to gure therefrom the number of each kindSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

Serial. No. 189,&76.

of tickets (including class, point of departure, and destination) whichhave been sold, and thereby estimate the amount of cash which the agentshould have on hand. It has been found, however, that dishonest agents,instead of selling the tickets at the front ot the tube, would,occasionally, remove tickets from the intermediate or rear portion ofthe tube and retain the money realized from the sale thereof. Thisdelinquency would not generally be discovered until the break in theserial numbers was roached, or until some thorough examnation andindividual count was made of the tickets in the tubes. Consequently,when the matter was discovered, it was very diflicult to determine whichparticular agent had been guilty of the theft, and, if there had beenonly one agent in charge, he would frequently claim that the tickets hadbeen delivered by the printer arranged in wrong order.

This form of embezzlement also extended to the surplus stock of ticketsat hand, not in the tubes; and, in the efi'ort to overcome the same, ithas been customary to seal the surplus stock of tickets in packages oftwo hundred and fifty each, so that the auditor or other partyinvestigating the stock would simply have to count the number ofpackages. This step has proved quite Satisfactory with regard to surplusstock, but it has in no way tended to prevent the Selling back in theactive stock, z'. e., the stock which is actually in the ticket case. Inthe efl'ort to overcome this last-named defeat, arrangements have beenprovided whereby each ticket carried a stub that was to be torn off andfiled as the ticket was sold. It was calculated that the auditor orother examining party would merely have to count the number of stubs inorder to ascertain the amount of money the agent should have on hand.But, even this arrangement did not prevent embezzlement 'by a dishonestagent, since he could destroy or throw away certain of the stubs.

My invention is designed to overcome this so-called Selling back in theactive ticket stock, while it also permits the surplus of tickets to bekept in sealed packages.

It saves the auditor s time and permits more frequent inspection, sincethe necessity for individual counting is eliminated and a cursoryexamination suflices. Furthermore, it is still possible to read thepoint of departure, destination, and number printed on the exposedticket.

A practical embodinent ol' my iuvention is represented in theucconipanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a deteil face Viewof a ticket ruse portly broken away,

Fig. 2 reprcsents a vertical section *taken in the plane of the line illl of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows Fig. 3 representsan enlarged detail section taken in the plane of the line III- HI ofFig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow,

Fig. 4 represents a similar View taken in the plane of the line IV--IVof Fig, L looking in the direction of the arrow, and

Fig. 5 represents an enlarged detail section, partly in elevation of themeans for looking the device to prevent the dispensing` of tickets.

The case or cahinet is denoted hy 1 and may be of any well known andapproved form. It may be provided with the customary roll front 2. iidesired.

The case has a series of transverse slats or bars 3 which extend inparallelism froni side to side and are tilted somewhat don'nwardlytoward the front. These bars may here the form and arrangement which isnow customary in ticket cases that ere fitted with the tubes abovedescribed, and to which bars the tubes are commonly remoyably Secured bymeans of springs.

The tiekets are in the term oi a strip which is rolled up es indicetedat 4, on a core 5, and slots 3 are arraned between the successivotickets of the strip. The junction of the successivo tiekets is alsoweekened by line perforations (indicated by dotted linos, Fig. 1), whichcxtend from the ends of the Slots 6, to the edges of the tickets. Ipreforably provide a strip ot such length as to contain two hundred andfit'ty tickets ot' suhstantially the ordinary railroad ticket sizcalthough special rolls containing as many as a thousand tickets may besupplied for stations where the sale is heavy, so as to eliminatefrequent replenishing of the supply in the case. The core 5 of theticket roll has :i pair of laterally extending trunnions 7 which areadapted to fit and slide in slits 8, that are formed in the sides of aticket roll holder 9. This holder 9 may be composed of somemateriah'sueh as'sheet metal, and he suhstantially box like in form, buthave its top and front open. The lower part of the holder 9 is projeetedforwardly and downwarclly to constitute a ticket dispenser 10( Thisdispenser takes the form of a substantially' flat guide having itslater-al edges li turned upwardly and inwardly so as to normally lieover the ticket which is about to be dispensed.

A spring is Secured to the dispenser 10, as indicated at by soldering orriyeting, or in any other suitable manner, and this spring is ealculatcdto perform a double function.

The rearward extension, denoted by 13, is designed to snap over one ofthe hars 3 tor the purpose oi temporarily seouring the ticket holder anddispenser in appropriate position in the case, clearly indicated inFigs. 2, 3 end i. The front portioin denoted by li, has an upwerdlyextending nose '15 which is intended to enter the Slots (i hetweeu thesuccessivo tickets. as the letter are dispensed, tor the purpose ofassisting in the manual removing or tear-ing oi' the tickets 'from thestrip, 'learly shown in Fig. l.

it will be noted that when the nose ,15 euters a slot (i, the ticketstrip is held in such a position that the pertorated line coincides withthe edge of the dispenser, which letter ziils in the hearing ot thestrip.

in operation, the desired number of hOid* ers 9 may he placed inposition in the cabinet, as is customary with the tuhes et present inuse. ln each hohler, a roll 4 of strip tickets may be located by mereiyresting the ti'unnions 'i' in the elite 8 in the sides oi" the holder itbeing understood thei; the sui'l roli will he unscaled before beingplaced in the holder. The first ticket. which is constituted hy the endof the strip, may he passed down along' the dispenser '10 and under theturn-ed up sides 17 until it engages the nose oi the spring memher 14.In this condition the tiri ets are ready to he dispensed, and in tai-;-ing this step, the operator simply rests his thunh upon the nose 15 ofthe spring mem-. her i. The weight of the hand at once depr i the springuntil its nose is level with the hsperser 10, as shown in Fg. 3. At

this moment the thumb comes to hear upon the initial tirket and theletter may be drawn forward` over the nose 15 of the spring memher li,until the said nose registers with the slot 6 between the ticket whichis being removed and the successivo one. As soon as this registeringoceurs, the nose 15 will snap up through the said slot and preventfurther 'forward movement of the ticket strip the letter being held, asalready indicated, with a perforation line in register with the frontedge ot' the dispenser. In 'this position, the operator simply tears theadvanced ticket 'from the strip for disposal. This operation may be veryeasily and expeditiously performed with a minimum of efl'ort upon thepart of the operator.

It will be seen that, since the tickets ere in strip form, it is not asimple matter for-the operator to sell back" in the ticket stock sincesuch an operation would require the removal of the roll, the unwinding'of a 'part of the same, the tearing out' ot' certain tickets, therewinding of the roll and replacemnt of the same. Furtheruor@ it 'weee'he very' diflicult for the operator to satisfactorily rewind the stripof tickets so as to conceal from an auditor or inspector the fact thathe had tampercd with the roll. Hence, I believe that m r arrangementsubstantially prohibits this 4 Selling back of the ticket stock which isin the case; and, as already indicated, the rolls may be kept in reservesupply in sealed packages, to prevent the illicit sale ot tirkets fromthe said stock.

It has also been found, when there are several agents in a singleoliice, each one selling tickets from his own case, that occasionally,one agent will sell from another agentfs case when the latter istemporarily absent from his post, and retain the proceeds of the saidsale. In order to prevent such an occurrence, in connection with the useof my invention, I provide means for looking the dispenser, andparticularly the spring member '14, 15 so as to prevent the dispensingof tickets. This looking arrangement consists of a rod 16, one end ofwhich is adapted to be inserted in a cup or socket 17 Secured to orformed on the inner face of the side of the case 1. just below and infront of each cross bar 3. The other end of the rod 16 is fitted toengage a lug 18 Secured to the other side of the case 1 opposite thesocket 17, and be locked in position against said lug by the bolt 19 ofa lock 20, which latter is Secured to the wall of the' casing limmediately above the lug 18. When the rod 16 is in locked position, asshown in Fig. 5, it serves to hold all of the spring members 14 whichare supported by the adjacent cross rod 3, in their normal position withthe noses 15 extending upwardly beyond the dispenser 10. In thiscondition the said noses cannot be depressed by the thumb of theoperator, and hence the dispensing of the tickets is prevented.

It will be noted that the slits 8 in the holders 9 are arranged at anangle so that,

as the tickets are withdrawn 'from the roll 4 and the latter is 'reducedin size, it willcontinuously move toward the rear of the holder andretain its periphery in contact with the back thereof. This contactserves to apply a certain amount of frictional resistance to theunwinding of the roll 4 so that it will not unroll except as force isexerted to draw the tickets therefrom.

I am aware that tickets have sometimes been sold in strip form fromrolls, but I do not know that they have been provided with Slots orarranged to coperate with other parts to efl'ect the results derivedfrom my invention. F urthermore, it has been customary for agents indispensing tickets from a roll, when a number are called for at the sametime by one purchaser, to simply un-' roll five or ten tickets, as thecase may be, and tear them off from the strip in one contnuous length.Advantage has sometimes *been taken of this condition 'by the user,

who would tear a strip of five tickets into six parts of substantiallyequal length, and thereby obtain six rides for the price of five. Myinvention prevents such occurrence, and, moreover, since the tickcts mayso rapidly and easily be dispensed in separate form, there is a minimumof inducement for the operator to sell a number of tickets Withoutseverin them.

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to in theform, Construction and arrangement of the several parts withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do notintend to be limited to the details herein shown and described except asthey may be specifically included in the claims.

`What I claim is 2- 1. A device of the characten described wmprising, aholder for a strip of tickets, said strip being provided With Slotsintermediate the successive tickets, a dispenser :for the ticketsarranged to engage the side ed 'es of the ticket While leavingsubstantia lly thewhole face of the ticket uncovered so as to expose theprinted matter thereupon, and a spring actuated finger located behindthe dispenser and normally passing through one of said Slots forarresting the movement of the strip and facilitating the removal of aticket therefrom, the end of the said finger normally projecting infront of the dispeuser so that, in the natural act of placing theoperator s thumb upon a ticket to withdraw it from the dispenser., thethumb will engage the said projecting end of the finger and temporarilydepress it for permitting the withdrawal of a ticket.

2. A device of the character described conprising` a holder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided with slots intermediate thesuccessive tickets,' a dispenser for the tickets; and a spring actuatedfinger located behind the dispenser and normally passing through one ot'said Slots for arresting the movement of the strip and facilitatinr theremoval of a ticket therefrom, the end of the said finger normallyprojecting in front of the dispenser so that* in the natural act of placing the operator s thumb upon the ticket to withdraw it from thedispenser, the thumb will engage the said projecting end of the fingerand temporarily depress it for permitting the withdrawal of a ticket.

3. A device of the character described comprising, a holder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided with slots intermediate thesuccessive tickets, said Slots being elongated and spaced from the sideedges of the ticket strip, a holder for the said roll, a dispenser forthe tickets, and a spring-actuated finger located behind the dispenserand having a relatvely wide nose normally passing through one of saidSlots for arresting the movement of the strip and facilitating theremoval of a ticket therefrom, the said nose normally projecting infront of the dispenser so that, in the natural act of placing theoperator; thumb upon the ticket to withdraw it from the dispenser, thethumb Will eng-age the said nose and temporarily depress it forpermitting the withdrawal of a ticket.

4. A device of the character described conprising, a holder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided with Slots intermediate thesuccessivo tickets, said Slots being elongated and spaced from the sideedg'cs of the ticket strip, a holder for the said roll, a dispenser forthe tickets, said dispenser having a notch in its front end conformingsubstantially to the contour of one-half of one of said Slots, and aspringactuated finger located behind the dispenser and having arelatvely Wide nose normally engaging said notch and passing through oneof said Slots for arresting the movement of the strip and facilitatingthe removal of a ticket therefrom, the said nose normally projecting infront of the dispenser so that, in the natural act of placing theoperator thumb upon the ticket to withdraw it from the dispenser, thethumb will engage the said nose and temporarily depress it forpermitting the withdrawal of a ticket.

5. Al device of the character described comprising, a holder for a stripof tickets, a dispenser for the tickets, means for engaging a portion ofthe ticket strip to facilitate the manual separation of a tickettherefrom, and means for locking said last-named means in engagementWith the strip to prevent the withdrawal of tickets from the dispenser.

6. A device of the character described comprising a holder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided With Slots intermediate thesuccessive tickets, a dispenser for the tickets, a finger adapted tosuccessively engage the slots to arrest the movement of the strip andfacilitate the manual separation of a ticket therefrom, and means forlooking the said finger in engagenent with the said slot to prevent thewithdrawal of tickets from the dspenser.

7. A device of the character described comprising, a holder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided With Slots intermediate thesuccessive tckets, a dispenser 'tor the tickets, a spring actuatedfinger located behind the dspenser and normally passing through one ofsaid slots for arresting the movement of the strip and facilitating theremoval of a ticket therefrom, the end of the said finger normallyprojecting in front of the dispenser so that, in the natural act ofplacing the operator s thumb upon the ticket to Withdravv it from thedispenser, the thunb Wlll engage the said pro-jecting end of the fingerand temporarily depress it for permitting the withdrawal of a ticket,and means for looking the said finger in its said normal position toprevent the Withdrawal of tickets from the dispenser.

8. A device of the character described conprising, a helder for a stripof tickets, said strip being provided With Slots intermediate thesuccessive tickets, said Slots being' equally spaced apart, a dispenserfor the tickets, and a spring actuated finger materially smaller in'cross section than the said Slots, said finger being located behind thedispenser and normally passing through one of said' slots for arrestingthe movement of the strip and facilitating the removal of a tickettherefrom,-the end of the said finger normally projectng in front of thedispenser so that, in' the natural act of placing the operatoi-s thumbupon a ticket to withdraw it from the dispenser, the thumb 'will engagethe said projecting end of the finger and temporarily depress it forpermitting the withdrawal of a ticket In testimony, that I claim theforegoing as my invention, I have-signed my name this 5th day ofSeptember, 1917.

JOHN J. CARE.

